LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Miners Press FTSE Deeper Into Red On Vale News

(Alliance News) - Miners put the FTSE 100 under pressure on Wednesday while the FTSE 250 battled to stay in the green in the face of a 24% slump for luxury car maker Aston Martin.The large-cap FTSE 100 index was 67.42 points lower, or down 0.9%, at 7,489.44 Wednesday midday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 27.84 points, or 0.1%, at 19,780.18, while the AIM All-Share was 0.2% higher at 922.15.The Cboe UK 100 index was down 1.1% at 12,695.32. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 17,657.72, while the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.3% at 11,036.95."Bad news abound for European markets this morning," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. "In London miners are in full retreat thanks to Vale's decision to resume operations."Brazilian miner Vale said the National Mining Agency has given the go-ahead for the partial resumption of dry processing operations at the Vargem Grande Complex.All operations at the Brazilian complex were suspended in February to prevent "occasional triggers that could affect dam stability". In January, a mining dam owned by Vale collapsed near the city of Brumadinho, Brazil.The agency's decision means Vale will be able to partially resume dry procession operations within 24 hours, totalling around 5 megatonnes of additional production in 2019. At the same time, Vale reaffirmed its 2019 iron ore and pellet sales guidance."The news has seen iron ore prices fall, putting pressure on mining stocks on fears that the strong rally in iron ore will now start to reverse, as more producers look to take advantage of the high prices," said Beauchamp.Among the fallers in London, Rio Tinto was down 4.0%, BHP Group down 3.5% and Anglo American 3.3% lower. "Yesterday's rally for the FTSE 100 is now a distant memory, while European stocks are also suffering thanks to some dire PMI figures," the IG analyst added.The eurozone's Composite Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 51.5 from 52.2 in June, a three-month low, IHS Markit said on Wednesday. This was comprised of the Services Activity Index slipping to 53.3 from 53.6 and the Manufacturing Output Index slumping to 47.0 from 48.5, a six-year low. Germany's IHS Markit flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index tumbled to a seven-year low of 43.1 in July, from 45.0 in June.The euro was quoted at USD1.1141 in the wake of the data, down from USD1.1155 late Tuesday. With the European Central Bank announcing its latest monetary policy decision on Thursday, the latest PMI prints have fuelled expectations for a dovish message.In Paris, the CAC 40 was down 0.6% at midday while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 0.2%.The German DAX was higher despite Deutsche Bank sliding 3.6% after reporting a steep loss for the second quarter due to a large business restructuring cost.Deutsche Bank's sunk to a EUR3.15 billion net loss compared to a EUR401 million gain the year before. Excluding transformation costs, the lender said it would have reported net income of EUR231 million in the period. Deutsche Bank's quarterly net revenue slipped 5.9% to EUR6.20 billion from EUR6.59 billion the year before.In New York, Wall Street is on course for a lower open with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 pointed down 0.3% and the Nasdaq set for a 0.6% slide.In the US, there are earnings from aerospace firm Boeing, social media giant Facebook and car maker Ford. In the UK, GlaxoSmithKline reports interim results at 1200 BST.Ahead of this, the pharmaceutical stock was down 0.3%.Elsewhere in the FTSE 100, Croda International joined miners at the bottom of the index. The speciality chemicals firm, down 4.7% at midday, reported a dip in revenue for the first half. Pretax profit for the six months to June fell 2.7% to GBP166.2 million, with sales rising 1.7% to GBP714.7 million, amid a "favourable benefit" from the pound's weakness. On an adjusted basis, core business sales rose 2.4% at reported rates, but fell 0.4% at constant currency, to GBP657.9 million, while adjusted pretax profit was down 2.5% at reported currency and 3.5% constant to GBP170.6 million. Sat at the top was ITV, gaining 6.8% as it boasted the success of reality TV show Love Island, which helped the broadcaster avoid a sharper than expected advertising revenue slip.Total external revenue in the first half of 2019 was down 7% to GBP1.48 billion, while ITV total advertising revenue fell 5%, though this was, the company noted, better than previously guided.As revenue fell, pretax profit slipped to GBP222 million from GBP265 million."ITV delivered another good viewing performance in the first half of the year. Online revenues grew strongly up 18% despite tough comparatives, with Love Island providing a strong finish to the half. This was reflected in better than expected total advertising revenue," commented Chief Executive Carolyn McCall.Informa gained 6.3%, just behind ITV, after the events and publishing firm reported sharp growth in interim profit and revenue following the completion of its Accelerated Integration Plan, which combined the portfolio of UBM with the company's own portfolio.In the six months to June 30, Informa recorded GBP232.8 million pretax profit, nearly double the GBP118.7 million reported the year before. Informa's revenue jumped 47% in the first half to GBP1.41 billion from GBP957.1 million the year before.Sports Direct International climbed 8.3% in the FTSE 250 as it confirmed it will release its annual results on Friday."The accounts and audit are at an advanced stage and the results are expected to be within the guidance issued by the company on 13 December," the sportswear retailer said in a short statement. Sports Direct said last week that increased regulatory scrutiny and the complex integration of House of Fraser, alongside uncertainty over the troubled department store's future prospects, were the reasons for the delay. Meanwhile, Aston Martin shares were stuck in reverse after the luxury car maker cut its sales guidance.Aston Martin now sees 2019 wholesale sales at 6,300 to 6,500 vehicles, with the company describing this downgrade as "disappointing". Wholesale volumes in 2018 were 6,441, and it had previously guided for 2019 sales of 7,100 vehicles to 7,300 vehicles. Further, the company has guided for an adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margin of around 20%, and an adjusted operating margin of approximately 8%. Capital expenditure guidance for 2019 has also been revised to GBP300 million.Before, the adjusted Ebitda margin was seen at 24%, the adjusted operating profit margin at 13%, and capex and research & development spend at between GBP320 million and GBP340 million. Aston Martin shares were down 24% at midday.London Midday is available to subscribers as an email newsletter. Contact info@alliancenews.com